CommVault Systems (NASDAQ:CVLT) Shares Down 9.5% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• CommVault shares fell 9.5% to about $150.43, while trading volume was 70% below its average.
• Analysts’ consensus remains “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of $174.94; recent ratings include both upgrades and downgrades.
• Latest quarterly results beat estimates: earnings were $1.38 per share versus $1.25 expected, and revenue rose 13.1% year over year to $312.39 million.

CommVault Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVLT - Get Free Report) shares were down 9.5% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $151.48 and last traded at $150.4330. 251,324 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 845,623 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVLT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on CommVault Systems from $132.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on CommVault Systems from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of CommVault Systems from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 18th. FBN Securities started coverage on shares of CommVault Systems in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of CommVault Systems from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $133.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.94.

CommVault Systems Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.94. The company has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 78.95 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 70.45.

CommVault Systems (NASDAQ:CVLT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The software maker reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. CommVault Systems had a return on equity of 169.40% and a net margin of 6.60%. The firm had revenue of $312.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $310.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that CommVault Systems, Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Danielle Abrahamsen sold 486 shares of CommVault Systems stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total transaction of $69,400.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,160 shares in the company, valued at $1,736,448. This trade represents a 3.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Sanjay Mirchandani sold 6,857 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.80, for a total transaction of $979,179.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 257,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,796,132.80. This trade represents a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 28,277 shares of company stock worth $4,058,723 in the last ninety days. 0.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CommVault Systems

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CVLT. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in CommVault Systems in the second quarter valued at approximately $855,420,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of CommVault Systems by 11.3% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,215,053 shares of the software maker's stock worth $182,161,000 after acquiring an additional 123,348 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of CommVault Systems by 114.1% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 561,288 shares of the software maker's stock worth $84,148,000 after acquiring an additional 299,141 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CommVault Systems by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. American Capital Management Inc. now owns 540,845 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $42,126,000 after acquiring an additional 7,039 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of CommVault Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at $65,765,000. 93.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CommVault Systems

Commvault Systems, which operates as Commvault, develops data protection and cyber resilience software for businesses and other organizations. Its offerings help customers back up, recover, manage and secure data across on-premises systems, public clouds and hybrid environments. The company's Commvault Cloud platform and related services support data recovery, cyberattack readiness and data management. Its tools are designed to help organizations protect information across different workloads and storage environments.

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